The Quiet American (2002)

The Greene Mile

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Michael Caine won the San Francisco Film CriticsCircle award for his understated performance as Thomas Fowler, a Britishreporter stationed in 1950s Vietnam. The American of the title is AldenPyle (Brendan Fraser), who ostensibly wants to provide medical care forthe locals but may have a darker agenda. Certainly he wants to stealFowler's girl, the beautiful young Vietnamese woman Phuong (Do Thi HaiYen), whom Fowler can't marry. Director Phillip Noyce landed a beautifulone-two punch with this and Rabbit-Proof Fence, two political filmswith politics in the background and delicate human storytelling in theforeground. Based on Graham Greene's 1955 novel.